Oh boy, here’s the one I’ve been waiting for. Not only am I an Abbott and Costello fan, but I am also a fan of the Universal Monsters. The fact that all appear together in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN makes my geekdom go into overload. I will start by reviewing the horror aspects and since I don’t review the horror stuff regularly like I do comedy, I shall indulge. I then of course will review the comedy aspect. Be prepared, this will probably be my longest review ever.
For a little bit of history, Universal International completely did away with the monsters before this movie was made. The last time these monsters appeared in a film together was 1945’s HOUSE OF DRACULA and the last horror film made by Universal was 1946’s THE BRUTE MAN. The studio thought so little of that film they sold it to poverty row studio PRC to distribute. Horror was not only dead at Universal but dead in Hollywood, period, in the late forties. So in 1948 when this film was made, the monsters needed Bud and Lou more than the reverse. Dracula and The Frankenstein Monster both had a series of films for the studio dating back to 1931 and The Wolf Man dating back to 1941. In addition to the already mentioned HOUSE OF DRACULA, all three appeared in 1944’s HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and met without Dracula in 1943’s aptly titled FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN.
I will briefly address the horror fans who say meeting Bud and Lou softened the monsters. I will give them minor support in stating I agree The Monster being briefly scared of Lou and The Wolf Man falling down chasing Lou and getting kicked the the rear took things too far - and are also the only negative things I will say about this otherwise awesome movie. Yes, there’s the whole bit about Dracula being seen in the mirror when he’s biting Dr. Mornay’s neck - I get the complaint yet I’m not bothered by it. It’s never established in the film about the mirror and frankly, the scene is so awesome I’m not going to complain.
The Frankenstein Monster is played for the third time by Glenn Strange, who also had a brief role in THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP. By the time Glenn played the role in the series, The Monster was a beast on a table who gets up towards the end and chases someone around. Far from the days of depth and pathos when Karloff surveyed the roles. Strange does more with the monster here than in his other two roles and gets used wonderfully during the chase scene. He even speaks a few lines as well, the only time in the series the monster does so outside of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Considering where the monster was at in the series and the fact this is a comedy, the Monster is used well here. I never blame Strange for the writing of his roles, as I think he looked great as The Monster and was a good physical presence.
Lon Chaney, Jr. plays The Wolf Man for the fifth time. He maintains the pathos and his fear of the full moon well, acting very appropriately to Lou Costello’s jokes about turning into a wolf himself. Nice contrast between the comedy and horror in that bit. The transformations are getting better film by film and I especially like the one under the furniture. Chaney was a pro and had the Larry Talbot thing down to a science, so he’s of course a welcome presence here. The Wolf Man is the only Universal monster played by the same actor every time.
Then of course, there’s Bela Lugosi as Dracula. Simply my favorite dramatic actor of all time. Unbelievably, this is only the second time he played Dracula for Universal and they almost had Ian Keith play the role here. Pure blasphemy. Bela did play two vampire roles outside of Universal but they legally couldn’t be called Dracula. Anyway, he’s fantastic here. Those hand movements and close up stares are one of a kind as is the command and presence of that voice. Only Bela can do that. This is a real vampire, boys and girls, not these sensitive pretty boy things that pass as vampires these days. Bah! This vampire bites Dr. Mornay on the neck and look at the expression on her face - that’s a vampire. Bela’s the man and can also do comedy. I’ve seen most of his films and can tell you he could have been a great comic supporting actor if he was allowed to. Check out his dramatic comic pause in his line about brains while on the stairs and the way Lou childishly cuddles his face towards Bela. Bela has an expression on his face like a sympathetic papa, I just lost it from laughter there. A real shame this was Bela’s last major studio Hollywood role. I know the man had his demons but you can’t convince me he didn’t have more to give. I’m so glad he got the role here, at least. For some cool trivia, Bela was born 10/20/1882. Margaret Dumont was born 10/20/1882.
The horror look of this film was fantastic. That basement set, with the stone stairs and moat is cool as Hell and the room just above it, all dungeon like with that sewer vent with steam coming out being quite bad ass. Also check out the lab with all the cool electronic and lightning effects as well as the animated bat transformations.
Not only do we get a monster rally here, we get a pretty girl rally here as well. Lenore Aubert plays Dr. Sandra Mornay and does a very fine job. I love the fact she’s Eastern European so she fits in real well working as a henchwoman with Bela. Jane Randolph as Joan Raymond is also wonderful and is famous for horror fans for being the stalked girl in the swimming pool and street in CAT PEOPLE. I love the female dynamic with Lou. Two pretty girls, a brunette and a blonde, way above Lou’s league. Both have a courting with Lou but for reasons in the plot that make sense. Lou is enough of a wolf to just go along from one girl to another so you don’t feel sorry for him when he gets jilted, yet his reactions to being with either of them are priceless. Also sets up some great jealous Bud bits which lead to some great dialogue exchanges with Lou about trying to bargain for situations where Lou can share. Very funny stuff and definitely one of the better scenarios so far with Bud and Lou and the opposite sex.
The bread and butter to ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, along with the monsters, are Lou’s scared reactions. Unbelievably funny. The “whoa” he lets out the first time he sees The Monster’s face through the hay in that crate never fails to make me laugh. His reactions when Dracula is stalking him out of the coffin are also all time classic comedy stuff as well as the hand routine while sitting down with The Monster. Inspired by HOLD THAT GHOST, we get a great moving candle bit as well as bits of Lou seeing monsters and Bud not believing Lou because he just misses seeing what Lou sees. Another great thing about this film is the chase at the end is for once very, very good! No over reliance on long shots and back screen projection, instead we get Dracula fighting The Wolf Man while Bud and Lou run away from The Monster. Lots of great door gags and scare reactions and frankly it’s the kind of thing that would fit in well with the Shemp era Stooge shorts. A refreshing change of pace and man, love that bit where The Wolf Man grabs bat formation Dracula as they fall into the water below!
The coup de grace is The Invisible Man in a cameo, voiced by Vincent Price! Mr. Price was about five years away from being a full time horror star, but he did have the occasional role by this point, including THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS from 1940.
Probably Bud and Lou’s most famous film and definitely my favorite. There’s just too much awesomeness in this one. ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN was a huge success and inspired four more films where they meet other horror stars or monsters. I hope everyone comments on this one, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
